


The White Dragon

by itspixiesthings



Category: Ai no Kusabi, アカギ | Akagi, 賭博黙示録カイジ | Tobaku Mokushiroku Kaiji | Ultimate Survivor Kaiji (Anime & Manga)
Genre: BDSM, Drug and alchohol use, Exhibitionism, Gambling, M/M, Master/Slave, Violence, ai no kusabi au, fkmt - Freeform, voyeruism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-02-29 10:00:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18775993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itspixiesthings/pseuds/itspixiesthings
Summary: Akagi is a Blondie, one of the Elites of Tanagura and ruling caste of Amoi. Kaiji is a mongrel from the slums. Under normal circumstances, two such people should not have ever even crossed paths. But when Akagi spies the dark haired mongrel in one of the casinos of Midas, he finds himself inescapably drawn to him... and Kaiji finds himself at the mercy of one of the most ruthless sadists that Amoi has to offer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an Ai no Kusabi AU! It is set in on the planet of Amoi and will take narrative cues from AnK, but you don't need to be familiar with AnK to read the story <3

The lights that illuminated the downtown streets of Midas were bright, and colourful. In the pleasure district, there were any manor of entertainments available, for the unscrupulous to the upstanding. Anyone's tastes could be catered to, as the gaudy signs all promised. They were a dazzling display, advertising to a passerby any number of luxuries or services. The flashing neon was only a little more obtrusive than the sounds coming from inside the buildings themselves. Muffled, but omnipresent; loud music and the sounds of people laughing, shouting, and other obscenities blended into a cacophony that only amplified if one set foot into one of the many establishments.  
  
Despite the district's best attempts at cajoling his interest, Akagi felt no stir of excitement from any of the displays. Promises of a good time were a dime a dozen. In his long experience, anything that actually managed to deliver anything close to a thrill were, in reality, few and far between.  
  
And yet.  
  
It was, in the very least, far less _predictable_ than Eos, and that was more than enough reason to visit the Midas night life. Here, people lived far less regulated lives, gave themselves over to pleasure and to impulse, let themselves be ruled by the moment. It was fascinating to watch, people so unconcerned with the banality of their existences, the futility of their lives. No, perhaps that was _why_ they carried on so. A chance to drink away the knowledge of their own insignificance.  
  
As a Blondie of Tanagura, Akagi was accustomed to far more refined living than the citizens of Midas, who spent their off time getting drunk or high in the brothels and the bars until the wee hours of the morning. He was above those sorts of behaviours, and there was no real desire in him to join in the revelries of peasants. But that was just the problem; he had no real desire for _anything._ All of the luxury Eos could afford was nothing but a bore. And so he found himself, on such occasion that he could no longer stand the tedium, wandering through the streets of the Midas pleasure district, looking for a fix he knew he would not find.  
  
As he passed through the crowd of people and into the loud establishment, nobody knew they were in the presence of a Blondie. That would have caused quite the stir, after all. What on earth would a Blondie be doing in a casino in Midas? A smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he thought of the scandal it could incur. It was always sorely tempting, though ultimately inadvisable.  
  
Hiding his status was a simple matter of altering the length and the colour of his hair, keeping a visor over his eyes to hide his face, and forgoing the uniform of a Blondie for more civilian clothing. Short, blue locks jutted out around his visage in whatever passed as a 'trendy' style amongst the common folk, although he could do little to hide his tall and imposing stature. Still, it was enough. And if anyone suspected, they certainly would not dare to question him, regardless.  
  
The room was practically pulsing with sound. Vibrations rippled through the very walls of the building as he made his way towards the poker tables. His eyes fell on the players, curiosity and little else prompting him to observe the game. If it seemed like there was anyone worth playing against, he might be persuaded to join the table, but finding someone of a high enough calibre was no small task. Akagi was, like all Blondies, more of a voyeur than a participant in most of the pleasures that the common folk indulged in.  
  
There were four people currently engaged in the game, but only one of them caught his attention. The man was dressed in dingy, almost threadbare clothes that betrayed his poor stature. He had shoulder length black hair, and dark eyes that were narrowed in concentration. The others at the table seemed to jeer at him, but he let it brush off of him without much notice, as though he were used to such taunts. Akagi's eye went to his ear, looking for a moment for a PAM mark that might label him a citizen of Midas. He didn't have one. Akagi raised a brow in curiosity. A mongrel, then?  
  
He knew that the denizens of the slums of Ceres made their way into Midas on occasion, looking to boost their fortunes by whatever cheap means they could. Odd jobs, prostitution, theft, and of course... gambling. But he had never personally interacted with a mongrel before, nor stepped foot into Ceres as a matter of course. If he stuck out in Midas, he certainly would in _that_ unofficial sector.  
  
There was a glint of something in the man's eye that intrigued him. He looked almost feral to Akagi's gaze, _wild_ in a way that gave more life to his countenance than any of the other players in the room. Certainly more life than any of those living within the sterile walls of Eos.

Akagi found him... interesting.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The mongrel's name was Kaiji. Akagi had ascertained that after watching him play a number of times. He frequented the casinos of Midas enough that he seemed well recognized, though not especially well liked. Akagi was taken not just with his brash and unrefined attitude, but with his playing style. Kaiji played with a certain amount of recklessness that Akagi found compelling. 

He lost as often as he won, not because he wasn't good, but because he didn't know when to quit. That was his real failing as a player. Akagi observed him over the course of a few months, playing the poker tables, the slot machines, betting on the fights. There was a combination of intelligence that made him quite good at it, and a desperation that made him reckless to the point of ruin. But nobody looked as vibrantly alive as Kaiji, whether whooping in excitement for a win, or choking back the bitter tears of a loss.  
  
It was an emotional existence that Akagi could simply not relate to.

Kaiji was at the poker tables again today, and Akagi had decided that soon, he would play against this man himself, and try to suss out what it was that made him tick. If he could look into his eyes as an opponent, if he could be a part of what initiated the unbridled and unguarded emotions that passed over the mongrel's face, perhaps he could catch just a little of that thrill he was looking for.

But at this moment, Kaiji's eyes were already widening in a state of panic, and Akagi realized with some amount of disappointment that he had missed his opportunity to play him today. Kaiji was almost out of chips. He had a devastatingly bad poker face when he was nearing the end of his line, and everyone knew it.  
  
The man across from him at the table sported a bad dye job on his shoulder length hair, a red jacket, and a cocksure grin. He was eyeing Kaiji up like a shark about to go in for the kill, probably more than catching on that Kaiji was playing with a bad hand. He paused for a moment, slowly retrieving a pack of smokes from his jacket pocket, sliding one out of the box as Kaiji glowered at his own cards.  
  
“Well, Kaiji?” Flick. The lighter in his hand lit the end of it, and a swirl of smoke began to waft from him as he took in a deep breath. He leaned back in his chair. “Any last words before I finish you off?”  
  
“Fuck off, Kitami. Stop running your mouth and just play.” Kaiji tossed the words back at him. Akagi watched carefully, amused to see the trickle of sweat sliding down Kaiji's brow. There was an invisible tension in the room at that moment, as though time had slowed itself down to allow the two men to face off. Everyone else at the table seemed to disappear, irrelevant now to the real game at hand.

“It's amazing how you still manage to have that pissy look on your face when I'm about to finally ruin you for good, mongrel.” The man's lips grinned wider as he took another slow breath of the cigarette. The way he was talking, Akagi was beginning to suspect that this game was more than just one more meaningless win or loss.

Kaiji glared at him, but then barked a defiant laugh that Akagi had heard many times now. He tossed his chin in Kitami's direction. “Hey, why don't you give me a drag of that?” He indicated the smoke still between the man's lips.

“Hmph.” Kitami looked a little surprised for a brief moment, before he'd recovered himself. He shrugged, and took the cigarette between two fingers, extending it towards the mongrel. “Sure. I suppose it's the least I can do before I send you to your grave.”

Again, Akagi was aware of a sense of the inevitable lingering over the table. As Kaiji reached for the smoke, putting it between his lips and taking a leisurely pull on the cigarette, Akagi felt the weight of the current moment. It was like a chill were crawling up his spine, the unannounced result of the game hanging life and death delicately in it's grasp.  
  
It was as though the Grim Reaper himself were hovering above the table, waiting for Kaiji to finish his last smoke before he could take him away to the next world. Akagi wasn't sure why this game was so important, only that the importance of it was a fascinating moment in time, perfectly balanced to draw out a beat in his chest. The ever inevitable promise of death.  
  
Was _this_ what he needed to feel alive?  
  
The cards were laid out after Kaiji had passed the cigarette back to his opponent. Akagi could almost hear the gong being sounded, the final proclamation of Kaiji's defeat. A hand descended on Kaiji's shoulder from behind; a rather nondescript middle aged man in a brown suit. His knuckles tightened on Kaiji's shoulder even as silent tears began to stream down Kaiji's face.  
  
“Kaiji, you're out.” The man's voice was hard, unyielding, like stone. “You knew what was gonna happen. You've borrowed enough money from me to bury you in a ditch.”  
  
Ah. So that was the fact of it. Kaiji had fallen so badly into debt that he was, quite literally, at the end of his line. Akagi supposed that this man was a loan shark of some nature. Of course, being buried in a ditch wasn't likely actually in the plan for Kaiji's person. There wouldn't be any profit in that, after all. Akagi knew the underground well enough to know the possible places Kaiji might be headed for: Pressed into manual hard labour to work it off, whoring him out in the brothels of Midas, killing him for body parts to be sold on the black market, or even selling him off to one of Tanagura's research labs to be experimented on.  
  
All of these were possibilities at this point. And Akagi decided in that moment, that he had a better idea. Men under the loan shark's command were pulling Kaiji to his feet now, though the angry snarl had not left Kaiji's lips. They took him by the arms, even as he tried to pull away from him.

“Wait.” Akagi moved forwards then, putting his hand out to grasp the shark by the shoulder. He turned to look at him, his brows raised in some surprise, as Akagi nodded towards Kaiji, currently being held by two men between them. Even Kaiji looked momentarily surprised. “How much does he owe? I'll buy him out.”

“Tsh.” The loan shark frowned for a moment and looked him over, as though considering him. “I doubt anyone around here could buy him out.” He squinted at him, and Akagi had to restrain a chuckle at that assertion.  
  
“How much?” He repeated the question, fully aware that no amount would be anything that he could not easily afford. “I'll match it.” At that the man's frown deepened, but he told him the amount that Kaiji apparently owed him, which was certainly nothing to sneeze at in this area of the city.  
  
“Hoh.” His lips turned up in a smirk, glancing at the stunned Kaiji for a moment. “Rather a lot for a mongrel.” He turned his attention then back to the man with whom he was dealing. “To whom should I send the credits?”  
  
“Name's Endou. Yuuji Endou.”  
  
“Very well. Consider it done.” Only then did Akagi turn towards Kaiji. Endou had signalled his men to release him, and Kaiji was busy reclaiming his limbs and smoothing out his clothes. But the spark in his eyes hadn't dimmed. He was fixing him with a look that was half relief and half arrogant pride. It was delightfully spirited.  
  
“Really? Are you for serious?” Kaiji demanded, glancing to his sides to the men, who were now backing away from him. “Hey, I don't need anyone to bail me out!” He gazed at him like he'd never seen him before. Of course, Akagi had never approached him before so there was no reason for Kaiji to have ever spared him a second look until this moment. Still, his words made him scoff.  
  
_“That_ is clearly untrue.” He could hardly restrain the laughter. “What were you planning to do? Borrow some more money from someone else to keep playing? It seems you were on thin ice in that department as it was.” Next he grinned, leaning closer to him for a moment, letting his eyes move over his form with tantalizing deliberation. “Or were you perhaps going to use your body to pay off the debt?”  
  
That made Kaiji flinch a little. It was rather nice to see, a flicker of something in his eyes akin to... fear, perhaps? _Very_ nice.

“Fuck. I'm not gonna be indebted to some stranger, either, but you have my thanks.” He set his shoulders, meeting Akagi's eyes with what Akagi could only describe as impertinence. “What do you want? I'll work it off, if you like.”

That did make Akagi laugh. “Oh, you misunderstand me.” He could already tell that Kaiji would provide at least a decent amount of entertainment, if he kept on like this. More so than any of the Pets of Eos, bred at the Academy to be dull and predictable. He smiled. “This isn't an act of charity. You _are_ indebted to me. I'm buying your life.”  
  
That made Kaiji's eyes widen. The uninhibited display of raw emotion was like an aphrodisiac; Akagi rarely ever saw anyone be so unguarded with their feelings. Watching the expressions that passed across his face was his own private show. Fear, shock, and then anger, indignation, and finally a prevailing understanding of his own helplessness. Frustration. It was all written across his features. All of it, for him.  
  
“Who.. the fuck are you?” Kaiji's voice betrayed an amount of suspicious apprehension.  
  
He removed his visor glasses, slowly letting the mongrel before him get a good look at his face. With a single blink, he let his hair return to it's natural length, growing out long enough to drape over his shoulders and flow out around his waist. The blue colour was swiftly replaced with a stark white.  
  
“Shigeru Akagi.” A murmur went through the crowd of gathered people, but Akagi was only concerned with observing _Kaiji's_ reaction. Kaiji's eyes went wide as realization dawned on him. He took a shaking step backwards, but only managed to back himself into the waiting bodies of the loan shark's enforcers.

“A _B-Blondie?”_ Kaiji managed to choke out, clearly shocked almost dumb from the reveal. Akagi could see his body begin to tremble, an unconscious reaction to the sudden knowledge that he was in the presence of one of the Elites of Tanagura.  
  
There was a low whistle from the man named Endou. “Hohh... Kaiji, you've sure stepped in it this time.” Endou's voice was soft, almost reverent. “That's not just any Blondie... That's _The White Dragon.”_

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The White Dragon.  
  
Shigeru Akagi had earned that moniker as the most powerful of all the Blondies in Tanagura. All of the Elites were frightening in their command, but Akagi himself was the one and only Blondie that had a direct line to the super computer that ran the planet itself. Only he had the ear of Jupiter, as the head of the Black Market Syndicate and the overseer of the sale and trade of Amoi's most lucrative underground business: Pets.  
  
But for all that he was tied up in the Pet market, Akagi couldn't bring himself to indulge in it's decadence much himself. His fellow Blondies of course kept Pets of their own, humans bred and raised in the Academy for the sole purpose of sexual performance and exhibition. But the display of wanton sexuality and eroticism had grown tiresome to his eyes, and there was little excitement left in the voyeurism of naked flesh on display.  
  
No, Akagi wanted something more... real.  
  
Perhaps it was because the Pets bred by the Academy were all imprinted to be docile, obedient, and banal. They had little else filling their empty heads than chasing their next orgasm. And that was, of course, by design, but Akagi couldn't help but wonder how someone who hadn't been bred to specifications might take to the environment?  
  
If Kaiji could provide more stimulating entertainment, then perhaps... There had been something in those final moments of the poker game, that knowledge of the assurance of death and destruction that had awakened something in Akagi, something he had been looking for.  
  
Akagi couldn't die, of course. Perhaps that was part of the problem. His android body had been built to immortality, but his human mind was rebelling against the complacency and the inertia. Life that did not live, food and drink that were not necessary, and the fear of death failing to visit him no matter how long the months stretched on into years.  
  
Kaiji had thought himself about to die, and Kaiji had been afraid. He looked down at the video screen that now showcased the caged man, locked in a small room, angrily pacing around and glaring at the security cameras. Kaiji was alive, because Kaiji had a life to _loose_. Akagi frowned as he pondered that.

Kaiji's recklessness made him interesting, and Kaiji's brazen, undisguised fear made him attractive. Akagi wasn't certain what would come of this decision- and, certainly, he would get flack from the other Blondies for such a scandalously unorthodox action- but he knew one thing.

He wanted to see just how far he could push Kaiji.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Kaiji had stopped bothering trying to fight off the staff of the medical facility. He'd been kept here for a few days, now, and nobody even spoke to him unless to give him clipped instructions. _Stand here. Arms up. Turn around. This way._ If he tried to speak to any of them, he was ignored. Like he wasn't even human to these people. _Damn it!_  
  
He'd been brazen at first, shouting and demanding answers and swinging fists at anyone in his vicinity. But nobody had even taken his threats, or his questions, or even his address seriously. Again and again he was restrained, and put through tests and medical treatments with the sterile routine of professionals dealing with an animal. By now, he had given up trying to get answers, though his anger was still simmering just beneath the surface of his narrowed brow and his surly scowl.  
  
There was a part of him a little in awe of the clean, up to date, and well maintained facility he was being held in. Medical technology like this was unheard of in Ceres. This was probably the most thorough medical check up he had ever had in his life. In the slums, people made do, until they didn't anymore. Good health was a luxury that mongrels could not afford, and did not expect to last. There was a reason they considered you an adult at 15, and old by 30, in the slums. Between malnourishment, poor medical standards, dirty houses, drug overdoses and gang violence, life expectancy was not high.

Kaiji hadn't seen Akagi since he had bought him out at that casino in Midas. He knew almost nothing about the man. It still made rage bubble up under his skin when he thought of that tall, impassive Blondie, calmly telling him that he was _buying_ him like he was property. He'd been taken from there, with no further explanation, stripped, and locked in a small room at a medical clinic in Tanagura. 

If Midas was a step up from Ceres, Tanagura was a whole different world. The city of the Elites was nothing like the boisterous and gaudy city where the regular citizens lived. It was grander, sweeping and advanced in ways that made Midas look like the stone age. Kaiji had barely even gotten a glimpse of it through the windows of the transport vehicle, but he already had the sense that Tanagura was far beyond anything he had ever seen or experienced before.  
  
“He's almost ready.” He was currently being strapped into a chair in a sterile room with stark white walls, medical supplies and disinfectant stored neatly on the shelves. A man in a white lab coat was securing his arms and his feet, and Kaiji had a sinking feeling that whatever they were about to do was going to be worse than anything else they had done yet. A pair of hands reached from behind his head with a strip of leather between them. “Bite this.”   
  
Kaiji could feel his heart starting to beat faster as he felt it against his lips. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone else holding a long metal rod with a flat end that was glowing bright red. He could feel heat coming off of it, the air distorting around it in waves. “Wait, what are you doing with-?” Before he could say another word, the strip of leather was pulled between his teeth. He could feel his heart sinking deeper into his stomach.

He tried to pull against the binds that kept him strapped into the chair, but it didn't do any good. He could feel his blood rushing through his veins, his heart pounding in his chest as the rod came closer and closer, the unfeeling medical staff holding him in position, gripping his arm. The red surface pressed against his flesh with a sizzling sound. There was the sickening smell of skin burning, and the feeling of lancing pain rushing through him at once.

He screamed, the cries muffled by the gag, hands clenching and body taught and straining against the agony. It lasted only seconds but he could have sworn that it was hours. Finally the brand was removed, leaving behind a raw, angry mark. Pain was still crawling through his skin, and his vision was going spotty even as the gag was taken from his mouth, drenched in spit. He sucked in a deep breath, his whole body still shaking, the medical staff undoing the binds that held him in the chair. They spoke amongst themselves, ignoring him entirely.  
  
“Give it a week to heal, and then he'll be ready for Eos.”

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Kaiji spent the next week at the medical facility. The brand was healing quickly thanks to the care and attention of the staff, though there was still a lingering ache and pain in his arm. The heat seemed embedded in the mark for the first few days, before it dulled enough that it only hurt if he touched it. It displayed a circle, in the middle of which was a symbol that Kaiji was unfamiliar with.  
  
He was currently being marched through the corridors again, his bare feet slapping against the cool floors. They still hadn't returned his clothes to him. He had no idea where they were taking him this time. Two men were holding him between them by the forearms as usual, but this wasn't one of the standard routes they had taken him down before. He didn't recognize this part of the building.   
  
Eventually they stopped in a small room with a wide double door on the far side. The panels slid open, a whoosh of air sounding the entrance of the individual, and Kaiji looked up, curious to see what was happening. Through the doors stepped a tall man, long white hair that flowed gracefully around his waist, sharp features, and dressed in the uniform of one of the Elites of Tanagura. The rulers of all of Amoi.  
  
It was Akagi.   
  
One of the medical personnel, the one that Kaiji had gotten the sense was the one in charge here, stepped forward with a low bow. “The Pet is ready for you, Sir. He is in very good condition.” Kaiji watched Akagi incline his head ever so slightly in return of the greeting.  
  
“Hey!” Kaiji could barely contain himself. He gave a sharp pull against the man who still held him back, trying to lung forward towards the Blondie that had inexplicably appeared in his life out of nowhere. “What the hell is going on? What are you doing with me?” He demanded, loudly, hands balling into fists. His heart was beating now, his breath caught in his throat.   
  
Akagi looked at him with his impassive, cold gaze, silver eyes boring into him like ice. “I'm taking you home with me. You are now officially registered as a Pet of Eos.” He gestured to the brand on Kaiji's arm, and Kaiji looked down at it for a moment, his mind racing while Akagi continued. “Quite the step up for a mongrel. Congratulations.”  
  
“A.. A _Pet?”_ Kaiji tried to comprehend what he had heard. Pets were luxury companions to the very rich, glorified sex slaves, to his knowledge. Wealthy tourists travelled to Amoi specifically to acquire them, doting and pliable creatures created for the sole purpose of sexual pleasure. Did that mean that Akagi intended to _fuck_ him? Kaiji's heart seemed to catch in his throat as he considered that. He imagined Akagi's hands on him, imagined what this strong, towering Blondie might want from him in the bedroom, and a shudder went down his spine.  
  
Before he'd had a chance to get used to the idea, Akagi was coming towards him with a collar and leash in his hands. Kaiji's heart almost stopped as he considered what the man was about to do to him. He grit his teeth and pulled his arm free from the hands holding him, backing away from Akagi. Akagi didn't seem to mind, calmly continuing towards him with the collar still in his grip.  
  
Kaiji's blood was rushing through his veins now, heart pounding to the beat of adrenaline and righteous anger. He couldn't believe the casual attitude of this man, this man who had forced him to live like an animal and expected to put a leash on him and lead him out of here as a Pet. Bile rose in his throat at the very thought of it, and he acted before he could think.  
  
Pulling his arm back he took a swing, intending to really show this Blondie exactly what he felt about the so called ruling caste of Amoi. He snarled in anger as he hurled his fist towards the man's face. Akagi's hand reached out in a flash, catching his, gripping his knuckles between the leather of the collar and his fingers. Kaiji cried out, panting as he felt pain rush through his body, and before he realized it Akagi had twisted his arm around behind his back.  
  
“Hold him still.” Akagi's voice was still unaffected, impassive, and unyielding, and Kaiji hated it. He felt hands grip him from behind as Akagi's released him, keeping his arms secured and his body stilled. He tried to thrash against them, but Akagi did not react, simply pulling the collar around his neck and securing it with a click of the mechanism. There was a silver chain leashed to it, which Akagi held in hand. Once the medical staff had released him, Akagi gave the lead a tug.  
  
Kaiji was shaking with rage at the indignation. He wanted to rip this man apart with his bare hands. Instead he grit his teeth, glaring at Akagi as he grabbed the chain in both fists and set his weight on his heels in resistance. There was a gleam in Akagi's eyes at that, a small twitch of the lips that might have indicated a smile, but he didn't relent. Instead he turned, pulling on the leash and letting Kaiji feel the full brunt of the collar choking him.   
  
Kaiji's feet had no choice but to follow, the weight of his resistance making him stumble as Akagi kept a brisk pace, leading him out the doors. He pulled against the chain the entire way, his arms and legs straining with the effort. Akagi dragged him towards a waiting transport vehicle, giving a sharp yank on the lead to bring him tumbling towards him, and then with a firm grip he forced him into it, slamming Kaiji's ass down on the seat. Akagi didn't even look like he'd broken a sweat as he slid in next to him, and the automated vehicle began to move.  
  
Once they arrived at their destination, there was a similar procedure to getting him _out_ of the vehicle again. Kaiji knew that all of this resistance was futile at this point; he was outmatched, chained, and had no idea where he was, but it was for posterity's sake that he made sure Akagi had to _work_ to get him anywhere.  
  
As he was dragged out of the vehicle he paused for a moment from his angry snarling to look up and around him. They had arrived at a large tower, so tall he couldn't see to the top of it, in the middle of the most sweeping city vista he could ever have imagined. The massive entrance way was marked with a symbol, the same one that had been branded into his skin, and the word “Eos” was emblazoned beneath it.

So _this_ was Eos. Kaiji only vaguely knew of it from rumours, the tower dwelling of the Elites that ran the planet, the epicentre of Tanagura. There was nowhere on Amoi grander, or more advanced, or more bathed in luxury and decadence, than the tower of Eos.   
  
Akagi proceeded towards the doors, once again dragging Kaiji so his feet were forced to stumble to keep up. As they moved through the tower, Kaiji couldn't help the sense of awe sweep over him at everything there was to see. Marble archways, elaborate golden decor, fountains in the foyers. He was barely aware of the eyes of those they past on him, too busy taking in all of the splendour on display. There were other Elites moving through the place as well, identifiable by towering over the smaller, more scantily clad pets that moved freely about.  
  
Eventually, Akagi had directed him into a quieter section, remote and private, and they were were alone. As the door closed behind him Kaiji felt his heart beginning to patter again. He had no idea what was going to happen now that Akagi had gotten him back to his private quarters. The leash was removed from the collar with a snap, and Akagi set it aside without any further to do.  
  
Kaiji swallowed. He didn't like not knowing what to expect, and he had no idea what to expect from Akagi. He had no idea what this man was like, what he wanted, or what he had planned for him now. He set his jaw, staring him down. “You can't keep me here.” He knew that the assertion was untrue, but he had no intention of just taking this indignation laying down.  
  
Akagi regarded him with an almost bored expression. “And why ever not? You said yourself you would be willing to work off your debt to me.” He raised a brow as he looked him over, and Kaiji was suddenly acutely aware of his own nakedness. “Besides, you're a mongrel.” He felt a flush of heat rise to his face as Akagi continued, his voice dripping with condescension. “You have no rights, no citizenship, nothing. If you hadn't fallen into debt in Midas, you would have simply rotted away in Ceres for the rest of your life, getting drunk on cheap beer. You'll have a much better life as a Pet, I assure you.”  
  
“I'm not a _Pet_... I don't belong to anyone.” Kaiji grit out the words, though he knew in the core of his self that Akagi was partially right. The lack of citizenship of the residents of Ceres meant that no matter what Akagi did to him, it was legal, and it would be considered better than he deserved by anyone from Midas or Tanagura, and many in Ceres.  
  
“On the contrary.” Akagi's voice cut through his thoughts. “You belonged to _Endou_ the moment that you signed his contract. If he hadn't sold you to me he would have sold you to someone else, and I can guarantee that your fate would have been far worse.” There was a hard edge to his voice as he regarded him, his brow narrowing. “You should be _thanking_ me, not throwing a tantrum over the results of your own choices.”  
  
Kaiji clenched his fists again, staring Akagi down, standing to his full height. “Like _hell_ I'd thank you for keeping me here. All the luxury in the world isn't worth my freedom!” He found he was shaking, trembling, at the thought of being caged here indefinitely like an animal.   
  
Akagi tilted his head, an almost bemused expression softening his features. “Do you really value freedom so highly? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, you are from Ceres, after all. For all the good that that freedom bought your people.”  
  
Ceres, once known as Area 9 of Midas. It had been generations since the rebellion of the Midas citizens that had inhabited that sector. The punishment for their attempt at a revolution, was simply to have their wish for autonomy granted. Cut off from Midas, from Amoi society, it's residents were free from the burden of the Amoi caste system, free to live their own lives unshackled... and free from the resources and life support that Amoi provided it's citizens. Ceres was expunged from all official records, and it's existence ignored by the government entirely. The mongrels had gotten what they wanted, at a significant cost, and were left to rot.

“In any case, it is no longer your choice. You lost your freedom yourself, I had no hand in it.” Akagi was moving towards him now, and Kaiji felt like his body was heating, his blood pounding in his ears. He backed up, wordlessly watching the large and overbearing man advancing, boxing him in, until his back felt the cool surface of the wall pressed up against it. Akagi rested an arm next to his head and leaned down, his face hovering inches from his own. “However, I am not cruel.” His tone had turned soft, melodic, almost seductive in quality.

“If you value freedom so very much, I suppose I could be persuaded to give you the chance at it, if you behave yourself.” As he spoke he let a gloved hand extend to touch Kaiji's neck, slowly drawing it down along his collarbone. “You're a gambling man, are you not?”

“I-” Kaiji was finding it difficult to form words as Akagi's hand continued to explore, moving down along his chest. His breathing was beginning to quicken, Akagi's touch awakening something within him, a desire, a need that crept through his skin as his hand travelled lower. “What did you have in mind?”

The hand on the wall beside him slowly moved, grasping him by the wrists and pulling his arms up over his head. Kaiji made a small attempt to resist, but he found that Akagi's strength was too overpowering to combat. His back arched against the wall as he felt Akagi's fingers roaming his torso, pausing in any place that caused a reaction, toying with him. Kaiji had never felt so exposed, so vulnerable. He could feel the results stiffening between his legs, and felt a pang of shame that he could do nothing to hide it.  
  
“I'll allow you a chance to gamble for your freedom once a month, if you've been good for me.” Akagi's voice was low, whispered in his ear. “The stakes will have to be _extremely_ high, of course. But you've gambled with your freedom before... would you gamble with your life and limb?” As he spoke Kaiji felt his fingers curling around his erection, and he drew in a sharp breath in response.  
  
“It doesn't sound like you're giving me an option.” He managed to speak, his body shuddering as Akagi began to stroke him. He wanted to whine, to pant, he felt like Akagi was setting him on fire from within, but he didn't want to give the man the satisfaction of watching him squirm at his touch. _God,_ nobody had ever touched him quite like this before, so boldly, so possessively, as though he were an object to be used, and nothing more.  
  
“Of course I'm giving you an option, Kaiji. You _could_ choose not to risk it, to just accept your new life as my Pet.” Akagi was leaning in closer now, and his face was a strange mix of serene and lustful, simmering perversions and calm carnal knowledge seeing into Kaiji's most inner thoughts. “It _would_ be the smarter choice.”  
  
Kaiji bit his lip to keep from crying out. “If the only other choice is life as a Pet, then I have nothing to loose.” He whispered, voice shaking and subdued. “You're on.”  
  
“Excellent.” Akagi grinned then, the first time Kaiji had seen him fully smile, and it was a wide, almost menacing expression. He felt like Akagi was going to devour him, staring at him as he quickened his pace with his hands, constricting his wrists tighter so Kaiji couldn't move. Kaiji couldn't help whimpering then, feeling his whole body tighten and constrict.   
  
He _did_ squirm for him then, panting as Akagi methodically hit every pulse of pleasure in his body, until he cried out in shameful bliss. His body shook, a shuddering rush of heat and ecstasy washed through him, right down to his toes as he came. Kaiji collapsed against the wall, and Akagi released his arms as he drew in shaking breath after breath. He couldn't meet the Blondie's gaze after that, averting his eyes to the floor in humiliation.   
  
“I very much look forward to seeing what you will do.” Akagi smiled, and there was a sinister kind of glimmer in his eyes, darkened with lust, though he made no move to have the pleasure reciprocated. Kaiji slowly slid down the wall to the floor, letting himself rest and catch his breath. He felt absolutely wrecked, and Akagi had barely even done anything.   
  
Was _this_ what it meant to be a Pet in Eos?

 


	3. Chapter 3

The room Kaiji was kept in was well furnished, if plain. It was nicer than the room he'd occupied at the medical facility. The bed was larger and softer, there was more room, and the attached bathroom featured the largest tub Kaiji had ever seen in his life. Kaiji had only had the briefest chance when he had first been brought here to see the rest of Akagi's apartment, as he'd been locked into what was now his own personal little cage directly after that first encounter, but it seemed even more spacious and luxurious.  
  
The first morning, Kaiji didn't see Akagi at all. He was left naked, alone, and untended to for the day. It suited him fine; the temperature in the building wasn't uncomfortable, and he needed time to think about what had transpired between Akagi and him the day prior. He needed time to absorb his new situation.   
  
Looking at the brand on his arm, he realized that this was a pretty _serious_ situation. The day was spent in a constant back and forth of worry as he paced around the small space he had been allotted. He tried the door several times, but the automated system refused to budge for him. He half wondered if Akagi would disappear for another week, like when he'd left him at the hospital. Damn it, just what game was the Blondie playing at?  
  
The next morning, however, he heard the door slide open.

Akagi's full form was always intimidating, no matter how many times he saw him. Kaiji felt his breath catch in his throat as the man entered, an impassive expression of disinterest on his face. Akagi looked every bit the part of the serene, composed Elite. In truth, Kaiji had never even so much as seen one of those of the ruling caste before in his life until he'd met Akagi, but the rumours and stories didn't do the actual reality of the man justice. If it wasn't entirely against his principles, he'd fling himself at the Blondie's feet just at the sight of him.

Instead he stood up to his own height, narrowing his eyes at the man who was now, in all technicality, his legal Master.   
  
“About time you showed up again.” He tossed him a scowl, trying to portray a confidence he didn't truly feel. There was a pause, and Kaiji felt a flush of frustration rise to his cheeks as he tried to get a read on the mysterious man standing opposite him. He couldn't figure out what was going in Akagi's head, and that irritated him. He was used to people being much more open with their thoughts.  
  
He didn't like not knowing how an interaction was supposed to play out. In the slums, people were upfront with what they wanted from you. Half the time that was to run you off their turf by threat of violence, but it was honest violence. At the very least, you could tell if someone was being underhanded, and if they did you dirty it was your own fault for being too trusting. With Akagi, however, Kaiji had no idea what to expect.  
  
Finally he gave a huff, reaching for something to complain about to make his frustrated feelings known, and gestured down at his still naked body. “Are you going to give me something to wear, or what?”  
  
Akagi regarded him with that maddening expression that was halfway between serene and severe. He tilted his head, and Kaiji felt again his eyes sweeping over his form, possessing him in a way that was almost insultingly clinical. Finally, he spoke. “Eventually.” He was still eyeing him, and Kaiji felt heat reddening his cheeks in embarrassed protest of the visual examination. “If you can earn it.”  
  
Kaiji swallowed. “Earn it?” What did that mean? He was sure he'd seen Pets in the building when he'd been brought in, and they'd been scantily dressed but they hadn't been naked.   
  
Akagi gave a sigh, and a small shake of the head. “I understand you are a mongrel, as much of a wild creature as if I plucked an actual animal off the streets. As such I don't expect this to be an easy transition for you. But we shall see how long it takes to train at least some modicum of obedience into you.” His tone conveyed a certain amount of condescension, like he was explaining a simple concept to a small child. Then a small, almost imperceptible smirk turned his lips. “My colleagues do not believe it can be done. I hope very much to prove them wrong.”  
  
Kaiji found he was sputtering at the thought of being so _discussed_ by the Elites of Tanagura, like he was an animal, not even human. He grit his teeth for a moment, before rejoining. “What does any of that have to do with giving me some clothes?”  
  
At that Akagi crossed his arms, though his face betrayed no hint of annoyance. “If you are cold, I can have the temperature in your room raised.”  
  
“I'm-” Kaiji blinked. “I'm not cold, but I can't very well live naked.” He protested, feeling increasingly aware of his own body with every second that passed with the Blondie's eyes on him. “It's indecent.”  
  
“We need to train the modesty out of you. You are a Pet; it does not matter if you are clothed or not. Indecency is not something you need concern yourself with.” Akagi's voice was infuriatingly even, calm, to the point. Kaiji shuddered. All of this was so far beyond the scope of anything he'd ever experienced before. All the hardships of the slums, the cold nights and the hungry days, the fighting for survival and territory, none of it had prepared him for the experience of having his very identity as a human being stripped away from him like this.   
  
“I'm not a-” A _Pet._ He _couldn't_ be. He'd fought too hard, all of his life, to rise above his circumstances, to sink into the life of a slave.

“You will learn that your body is meant purely for display, at my discretion.” Akagi cut him off, and now he was moving towards him. Kaiji's feet backed up without thought, and he could feel his heart beating at the increasing closeness of the tall, broad shouldered man before him. Akagi spoke with a soft voice, calm and confident, almost quiet in a way that forced him to listen all the more carefully. And the picture his words painted made him tremble.   
  
“If I tell you to get on your knees, spread your legs, and bring yourself to hardness with your hands, you will do it without question. If I tell you to keep yourself on the edge, panting and breathless with need all night, you will do it. If I tell you to rut yourself against my boot heel, you will do it.” As he spoke he towered over him, and Kaiji's breath was catching in his throat. He found it hard to look up at him, hard to meet the intensity of his eyes as he imagined every scenario Akagi wove into his mind. “If I wish to have you used as a breeding stud, and tell you to mount some pretty little bitch for the enjoyment of an audience, you will do it. _That_ is what it means to be a Pet.”  
  
“But I'm _not-”_ Kaiji found himself stumbling, his legs hitting the frame of the bed behind him, and his blood was rushing through his ears. He found his ass connecting with the soft mattress beneath him, and wondered if this was it, the moment when Akagi would lay physical claim to his body. He imagined the strong hands pinning him down, holding him in place, imagined what an Adonis like Akagi would do to him.  
  
But Akagi did not move to touch him. “So, Kaiji. Let's start this off easy.” Instead, he retreated a little, his arms still crossed in a strict, disciplinary manner, and looked down his nose at him. “Stroke yourself for me.” His tone of voice made it clear that it was not a request: it was an order. The clearest, most direct instruction Akagi had yet given him since he'd brought him here. Kaiji's heart raced.  
  
“I wont.” He heard himself speaking before he'd even had a chance to think about it. He had been all but ready to receive Akagi himself, as frightening as the prospect was, but he couldn't imagine just sitting there, touching himself while the Elite _watched._   
  
Akagi's brow raised, a tsking sound falling from his lips. “I expected you would say that.” Here his expression soured, just the slightest, with a hint of confusion. Or was it curiosity? “Why? You have nothing to be ashamed of. What great use is your pride to you?”

“Fuck me yourself if you want to watch me get off so bad.” Sitting as he was on the bed, Kaiji couldn't have felt any more exposed in front of him. It was one thing, however, to get fucked; Kaiji was more than familiar with the carnal dealings of men in the slums already. But getting fucked was a mutual experience, even when one was dominating the other. It was quite another thing to be a performing animal, humiliated and debased in the way that Akagi was making him feel right now.   
  
“Don't be ridiculous.” Akagi's voice cut into his thoughts. “No Elite would stoop so low as to copulate with a Pet, especially a mongrel.”  
  
That made Kaiji's eyes widen for a moment. He felt like his heart was going to stop. What did he mean by that? Did the Elites not fuck their Pets at all? “Then what am I _here_ for?” He blurted out his sudden confusion. Somehow the idea that Akagi wasn't even interested in fucking him made the whole situation worse. 

“For entertainment.” If Akagi was moved at all by his distress, he did not show it.   
  
“Well I wont do it.” Kaiji was, once again, speaking before thinking. At the back of his mind was a little voice saying that refusing wouldn't do him any good, probably, that Akagi could and likely _would_ force his compliance, that he was being foolish. But his pride wouldn't let him just give in to the perverted desires of his owner without a fight, wouldn't let him simply submit.   
  
“Very well.” Akagi's arms slowly uncrossed. “You will not be given any food, to say nothing of clothes, until pride is a word that no longer holds any meaning.”  
  
Kaiji bit his lip for a moment, his mind still unable to catch up to the reality of his situation. _“Fine.”_  
  
Akagi gave a short nod. “I will check in on you tomorrow.” Then, he'd turned and left the way he'd came, leaving Kaiji once again trapped alone in his rooms.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

After three days, Kaiji was feeling faint. There was an ever present ache in his stomach, a gnawing hunger that would not go away. He didn't have any way to distract himself from it, either. Boredom only managed to exasperate the pain in his gut and the weakness in his limbs.

Of course, it wasn't as though he wasn't already intimately familiar with hunger. There had been many long nights in his life with that same desperate ache clawing at his insides. Food wasn't always easy to come by in the slums, much less food that actually made one feel full and nourished. He'd always been able to make do, but it was easier to put up with the agony when there was literally nothing one _could_ do about it. 

When food, _good_ food, rich and luxurious food was on offer, readily available, the pain was that much sharper, that much harder to bear.  
  
Akagi came into his room around three times a day to inquire if he had changed his mind, and he always came with food that smelled so good Kaiji thought he would puke. Kaiji would growl, snarl at him, tell him to fuck off and leave him alone, and he was only half aware that he was living up to the derogatory moniker society had saddled him with: _Mongrel._ Dog. Feral. Wild.

It wasn't until day four that his pride finally broke.  
  
His body was shaking, his limbs felt weak and his stomach had long ceased making the loud growling sounds that signified his hunger. It had been five days since he'd last had anything to eat, and it was wearing on him. Akagi had last checked on him hours ago, and he knew the man was still in the apartment. Every so often he could hear movements, the sounds of life on the other side of the door to his prison.  
  
He took a deep breath and forced himself to the door, the weakness and hunger in his body finally outweighing his pride. He raised his hand and began to pound on the door, shaking with desperation. “Akagi!” He waited for a moment, listening to see if there was any hint of motion or sound from the other side. When he didn't hear any he felt like he truly would break, then. A sob caught itself in his throat as he leaned against the door frame. “Please, I...”  
  
The door shifted beneath him, and he had to quickly stumble backwards as Akagi's form filled his view. He looked up with eyes that were a little too wide, too desperate for his pride, to see the serene visage of his Master. “Are you feeling a little more cooperative?”  
  
Akagi passed him, sparring him only a glance as he came into the room, the door sliding closed once more, trapping Kaiji in the space with him. Akagi took his time seating himself on the only chair in the room, a little ways away from the bed. He sat straight, knees together, hands on his lap. Rigid, disciplined. Kaiji felt a lump in his throat as he tried not to think too much about what was going to come next.   
  
“I can't...” He took a deep breath, avoiding looking at Akagi's impassive face. His heart was pounding so hard that he was sure Akagi could hear it. “I can't promise that I can get it up. But I... I'll try.” Kaiji wasn't sure which would be more humiliating; not being able to get a hard-on under pressure, or _getting_ one while Akagi's eyes were all over his naked body. He stared at the floor for a moment, hating with every fibre of his being what he was offering. All in exchange for some food... he really was just a mongrel, after all.  
  
“That's a start. Come here.” Akagi's soft voice broke through his mind. He didn't want to look up at him, didn't want to see the hungry look in his eyes. Without looking, Kaiji started to walk forwards, his heart in his throat. But again, Akagi's voice pierced through the silence of the room. “Not like that.” His tone had darkened just a fraction, and then Kaiji looked up in surprise. Akagi's face was unreadable, as always. _“Crawl_ to me.”  
  
“Damn it!” Kaiji snapped in frustration. His body was shaking already, he was already giving in so far, why this on top of everything? “Why do I have to crawl?”  
  
“Because I told you to.” God, Kaiji wanted to deck him. Make him angry. Wipe that unflappable look off of his face. Akagi continued. “The point of this exercise is to teach you shamelessness, and obedience.”

Kaiji's hands were balled into fists at his sides, but he'd gone too far to take back his surrender now. Not when he could still smell the food waiting outside of this room, not when he'd already admitted he would do what he'd been told, or at least try as best as he could. He felt hot, lightheaded, as he slowly sank to his knees, trying hard not to think too much about what he was doing. 

He crawled.   
  
The distance was short, but he might as well have been made to crawl for a mile for all the difference it made to his pride. He burned with the indignation of it, finally coming to stop directly before Akagi's knees. When he did, Akagi reached down and grasped him by the chin, roughly jerking his face up to look at him, and Kaiji felt his breath catch in his throat.   
  
“Now. Stroke yourself.” Akagi instructed him again, the same command as before, and Kaiji's breathing trembled as he reached down between his legs to touch himself. He wasn't hard, not yet, and he wasn't sure if he would be able to get hard, but he had to at least _try_ to appease Akagi now. He curled his fingers around himself, gingerly beginning to stroke up and down the shaft, all while looking into Akagi's piercing eyes.  
  
“Spread your legs.” Akagi whispered, and Kaiji did, whimpering a little at the embarrassment as he exposed himself. “Wider... I can't see.”  
  
As Kaiji pushed himself to obey, he felt the stirrings of arousal. Akagi's insistence on seeing every detail of his body, of his movements, made his skin heat and his core ache. He felt a yearning, and soon his breath was short as he locked eyes with the man who owned him, the man who had forced him to this. As he exhaled a strained breath, he growled. “You absolute fuck.”  
  
There was a soft chuckle, and Kaiji could feel Akagi's fingers tightening on his chin. “Your manners are deplorable. But that's alright... I don't dislike that attitude.” He leaned in closer, and his breath fell hot on Kaiji's skin. “Hate your position all you like, as long as you _know_ it, down to the marrow of your bones.”

As Kaiji continued to move his fingers up and down the shaft, he could feel himself stiffening, could feel that familiar sensation of pleasure curling inside of him, _god_ why was he getting so hard just jerking off at Akagi's feet? He put one hand on the ground to steady himself, and in so doing his legs slipped just a little wider, more open, his hips thrusting forward. He was panting, it felt good, he hated that it felt good, that Akagi's eyes on his body was getting him so riled up.  
  
As if reading his thoughts, Akagi smiled. “And you thought you wouldn't be able to achieve an erection.”  
  
“Aah..” Kaiji closed his eyes in an attempt to escape from the cold stare of the Elite. He shuddered, bit his lip to keep from whimpering, but only managed to muffle the sounds of his pleasure.

“Good boy. Keep going.” Akagi's soft voice was like a soothing melody, urging him along his present course. It was feeling easier and easier to just give in, just give him what he wanted, what was so bad about jerking off after all? It wasn't like jerking off was unpleasant. But that thought alone worried Kaiji. He held his breath, feeling that edge of orgasm, that precipice just barely out of his reach, ready to push himself over and take the plunge.  
  
“Please... let me stop, now.” He didn't want to do it, didn't want Akagi to watch him get himself off, not like this. It would be one thing for Akagi to do it, like he had done before, but to make Kaiji do it himself, as a performance, it was too much.   
  
“Come now. I want to see it.” Akagi encouraged him, and he sounded so soothing it was difficult to remember why he didn't want to. He felt a hand circle around his neck to idly stroke his hair, and that touch felt so, so impossibly good. “This is what a Pet is, this is what a Pet _does_. You can live a life entirely devoted to pleasure, no sense of pride or shame to inhibit you.”  
  
“I don't want... to be a Pet...” Kaiji's mind raced to come up with an excuse, a reason not to. He would have protested further, but Akagi's eyes were borderline hypnotic. He hushed him, softly whispering in his ear as he stroked his head.  
  
“Let it go. Cum for me.” As he spoke, Kaiji felt himself cresting the edge of that precipice, and finally, _finally_ , plunging over the side, as pleasure build up to a ecstatic peak. He was barely aware of the feeling of hot liquid spurting over his fingers as he came, the feeling of release so perfect, so intense that his whole body tightened, his muscles pushing him, letting the sensations wash through every inch of him.   
  
_“Aaahh!”_ He cried out, barely aware of Akagi observing every lingering moment of his bliss, until finally the pleasure receded, leaving him panting and shaking, leaning against Akagi's knees with Akagi's hands around his face.  
  
“Very good.” Akagi's praise was hardly warm or affectionate. Instead it was clinical, like someone satisfied at the conduction of a routine demonstration. But it still filled Kaiji with a strange feeling of fulfillment. “Lick your fingers, now.”  
  
Kaiji blinked at that, still in a bit of a euphoric daze. “Wh..what?”  
  
Akagi continued to pet his hair, fingers idly playing through the shoulder length locks. “I have dinner waiting for you. Just clean up your mess, first, and then I will feed you.”

“A...Akagi..” Kaiji's face flushed as he realized what exactly Akagi was telling him to do. But he had come this far, he couldn't possibly back out now, not as his stomach gave a growl at the mention of dinner. He rose a shaking hand, his tongue reluctant to cooperate, darting out slowly to lick at the cum on his fingers. The bitter taste flooded his senses, and it made him feel... dirty. Shameful. He almost wanted to wretch as he swallowed. Soon he found himself clutching at Akagi's legs to steady his shaking form as he finally finished.  
  
Akagi patted his head, in the closest thing to a friendly gesture he'd yet shown him. “Good Pet. Perhaps you are teachable, yet.”  
  
  
  


 

* * *

 

 

Three weeks. Three weeks of back and forth with Kaiji. Three weeks of mind games and patience. Oh, Akagi could easily use physical force to bring Kaiji to heel, of course, but that wouldn't stick. It would result in momentary victories, and nothing more. Akagi wanted to actually bend Kaiji to his will, not force temporary surrenders, and that was much harder to accomplish.

But, for the time being, Kaiji was behaving himself at least in action if not in attitude. He still grit his teeth and barked insults at him when he told him to do something, but he did not attempt to refuse to do it. Akagi had to admit to himself that he rather _liked_ that arrangement; it certainly made Kaiji more interesting than any Pet he had ever had prior.   
  
He'd been rather amazed at how long Kaiji had held out on refusing his first command. Of course, Kaiji would never be ready to be publicly shown or bred if he couldn't even perform in private for Akagi's sole benefit, so it had been the required starting point to his education. He'd put up a valiant fight, and Akagi had, at that time, been more than satisfied that he had done well in choosing this particular mongrel for the project. If Kaiji had not lasted as long as he had, he'd have been disappointed.  
  
“Hey, Akagi?” Kaiji never used any kind of title for him, a bit of etiquette Akagi had not bothered to enforce. It made him want to laugh when he thought of what kind of reaction it would cause when the other denizens of Eos learned that Kaiji so casually referred to his Master by name. Such a scandal it would be, he was sure.   
  
He didn't answer, instead simply glancing down to where Kaiji was sitting at his feet, if not demurely at least calmly. He was peering up at him with a sour expression of resigned dissatisfaction. It's liveliness made him want to laugh. Instead he patiently waited for Kaiji to continue his query.  
  
“When you first brought me here, there were Pets freely walking through the tower, on their own.” Kaiji stated, and he sounded like he was trying not to sound overly earnest, but Akagi knew what he was trying to hint at.   
  
So the solitude and confinement was getting to him, then. That was a good sign. Still, Akagi wasn't about to simply give him whatever he fancied. He looked at him without showing any sign of knowing what his Pet was driving at, and said blankly, “And?”  
  
That made Kaiji make a frustrated grunt. _“And?”_ He looked affronted, and Akagi was glad to see that reaction. It meant his attitude, his fighting spirit, was still alive and kicking. Akagi had no desire to quash it. Kaiji sat up a little on his knees, turning more fully towards him, agitated. “I'm going stir crazy in here! You're gone all day and I have nothing to do!”  
  
“I can't exactly be at the disposal of a Pet 24/7, Kaiji. I have work to do for Jupiter during the day.” Akagi patiently humoured his outburst, interested to see how Kaiji would plead his case.   
  
“Yeah but can't I.. go out?” Kaiji was starting to sound increasingly desperate, and Akagi rather liked it. “Do something to pass the time while you're not around? Like the other Pets.” It was certainly a mark of progress that Kaiji was even referring to himself as a Pet at all, pointing to his peers as a means by which to measure his own privileges and status. And, it was not lost on Akagi that Kaiji had not even bothered to ask for clothes again before asking to be allowed to leave Akagi's apartments. He wondered if Kaiji had realized that himself, yet.  
  
“The other Pets in Eos wear identification rings that track their movements and log their activities.” In truth, he had planned to give Kaiji such a ring and bring him out into the public sphere of Eos life soon regardless. It was already unusual for a Pet newly brought to Eos to have been kept in private for so long; most only stayed in training for about a week. He had anticipated that Kaiji's training period would, however, take much longer than that.   
  
“Well? Give me one, then.” Kaiji's voice raised in pitch as he made his demand, and Akagi had to chuckle at how Kaiji was, essentially, demanding to be leashed.  
  
“Hmm. I'm not sure if you are well behaved enough yet to be given such a privilege.” He paused for a moment, thinking it over. As he was, Kaiji was certainly not ready yet for public life without causing some kind of scandal or trouble if left to his own devices. However, that was not altogether a bad thing in Akagi's estimation. What was, after all, the point of bringing a wild mongrel into Eos if the mongrel didn't manage to cause a few commotions?   
  
“Although,” An idea occurred to him, then. “I suppose that we could make it your first gamble.” It was nearly time to give Kaiji his first promised gamble, and if he was going to be so demanding, he didn't need to know that he'd been going to be given exactly what he was demanding now regardless.   
  
Kaiji seemed startled by that. “I thought the gambles were going to be for my freedom.” He made the protest, and Akagi knew there was no possibility that he had forgotten his first shot at being released was soon due.   
  
He shook his head, smiling lightly. “But you want extra privileges in the meantime while you are here.” That made Kaiji fall silent for a moment. Akagi could more or less see the gears turning in his mind. If he took a gamble for his freedom now, he might win and be free, or he might loose and not have this extra privilege, plus whatever the penalty for loosing might be. On the other hand if he took a gamble for the extra space, he could win himself a more comfortable time spent in Eos while he waited for the next gamble.  
  
Akagi himself was considering something quite different. He hummed to himself, looking Kaiji over for a moment. “If it's not a gamble for your freedom, the stakes don't need to be quite as high if you loose, either.” That was rather a pity, but he supposed that starting things off with slightly lowered stakes wouldn't be horrible. Ease into it. He'd been rather looking forward to the thrill of seeing Kaiji putting everything on the line, however, and wouldn't want to make it too easy. “What if I were to sell you off?”  
  
Kaiji paled a little, and that was a good sign. “Sell me?” His tone had quickly become more demurred, less aggressive and demanding. It was fascinating to watch the fluctuations in Kaiji's moods.   
  
“Quite a lot of brothels in Midas would be happy to have a fit young man like yourself, and Pets from Eos fetch a high price.” Akagi took some pleasure in the effects his words were having on Kaiji, the fear in his eyes, the way his skin became first pale, and then flushed with red. “If you win the game, I'll give you a Pet Ring and a longer leash. If you loose, I'll have you worked to the bone in Midas. You stand to loose the comforts of Eos, but not your life.”  
  
Akagi rather hoped Kaiji would win this one. He was not ready to part with him just yet, so it was as much of a risk on his end as it was for Kaiji. But that was what made it so entertaining. A gamble wasn't a gamble if you _didn't_ stand to loose something, after all.  
  
“What's the game?” Kaiji finally asked, a sure sign that he was acquiescing to the arrangement. Akagi grinned at that. He was certain that what he had in mind, Kaiji wouldn't exactly like. But no Pet was brought out into the public life of Eos without a public Bacchanalia, after all. Kaiji couldn't have what he wanted without first being made a spectacle, but he didn't know that yet.  
  
“You'll see.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> If you enjoyed this, PLEASE leave a comment and let me know! Your feedback goes a very long way to encourage me to keep writing! <3


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